Beware of ticks! how to protect your dog from ticks

Should dogs be vaccinated against ticks?

Currently, the most common vaccinations are vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis and piroplasmosis.

Encephalitis is a serious inflammatory disease of the brain, the untimely treatment of which can lead to death. The spinal cord may also be affected.

Vaccination against a tick bite for a dog is not included in the list of mandatory vaccinations, however, if the owner wishes, undesirable consequences for the animal can be prevented by getting vaccinated.

But you should know that the vaccine cannot guarantee that the pet will not be bitten by ticks; it is even impossible to say for sure that the dog may not become infected.

But vaccination allows the pet’s body to more easily tolerate the disease and avoid disastrous consequences.

Piroplasmosis leads to an equally serious disease. During the course of the disease, “hemolytic anemia” is observed. If treatment is delayed, the dog will die 4 days after the onset of the disease.

Despite the fact that piroplasmosis can be cured, the pet still has serious complications:

anemia;
liver diseases;
renal failure;
diseases of the cardiovascular system.

A specially developed vaccine helps prevent the development of the disease and complications that arise after piroplasmosis.

Removal of the parasite and consequences

How to get a tick from a dog? It must be carefully removed with tweezers, pulling out the body with a slow twisting motion. Instead of tweezers, you can use thread. A loop is created from it, which hooks the tick.

The bite wound should be treated with iodine or brilliant green. The remaining tick head under the skin can lead to inflammation. You need to lubricate this place with iodine, after some time it will come out on its own. If this does not happen, you should take your dog to the vet.

The longer a tick is attached to a dog, the more it infects the animal.

Features of the vaccine

As a result of research, it was found that vaccination against ticks for dogs saves the lives of 85-95 pets out of 100.

The standard vaccination regimen includes 3 vaccinations . The first two are carried out at intervals of 5 months, starting from the cold season and ending no later than 2 weeks before the appearance of ticks. And the third vaccination is performed to maintain immunity.

There is also an emergency vaccination, in which the second tick injection is given to the dog 2 weeks after the first vaccination, and the third one a year after the second. This scheme has also been found to be effective.

You should know that one vaccination will not do anything. Only after the second vaccination does the dog begin to develop immunity to the tick-borne encephalitis virus.

The vaccine contains killed tick-borne encephalitis virus; there is no live virus in vaccinations.

Two types of vaccines have been developed against piroplasmosis:

Nobivac Piro;
Pyrodog.

Vaccines contain two types of antigens: soluble parasitic and somatic.

Positive aspects of vaccinations against piroplasmosis:

the dog's smooth muscles relax, vascular permeability increases;
hemolysis occurs;
red blood cells stick together;
immunity increases.

It is parasitic soluble antigens that help relieve severe symptoms of the disease and facilitate recovery.

The manufacturer clarifies that the vaccine’s effect lasts for a year. This is very good.

After all, it was previously believed that it was possible to become infected with piroplasmosis only during the period of active tick activity, but recently cases of the disease have been registered in the winter.

Treatment

The professional approach to the treatment of piroplasmosis in the Russian Federation and abroad is different.

The European approach is to inject an imidocarb-based drug if symptoms of piroplasmosis occur. The dog is monitored for 2 weeks. If your pet is feeling good, there is no need to do anything. Otherwise, the injection is repeated. Imidocarb protects the dog from subsequent arthropod attacks.

If the first injection coincides with darkening of the urine, an antimicrobial drug containing Doxycycline, Azithromycin or erythromycin is prescribed. Antibiotics destroy synergistic microflora. After completing the course, the dog is temporarily transferred to veterinary food with prebiotics to restore digestion.

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In Russia, a different treatment regimen has been adopted. Diminazene aceturate derivatives are mainly used. To maintain the function of the liver, kidneys, and heart, maintenance therapy is carried out through droppers. Antibiotics are widely used. Veterinarians practice additional injections of antiprotozoal drugs. The liver suffers. The situation is corrected with hepatoprotectors.

Despite the dissimilarity of symptoms and pathogens, the treatment regimen for bartonellosis, borreliosis and ehrlichiosis is approximately the same. In all situations, a course of antibiotic therapy with Doxycycline is used.

If the causative agent of the disease is protozoan microorganisms, an injection of Imidocarb is given. General strengthening agents, hepatoprotectors, and B vitamins are used.

To restore digestive functions, use Hill's l/d or Royal Canin Hepatic medicinal food.

Preparatory activities

You should know that only a healthy pet needs to be vaccinated against ticks for dogs. If any deviations in the pet’s condition are noticed, for example, watery eyes, then the animal must first be cured and only then the dog should be vaccinated against ticks.

Be careful!

To avoid the development of unwanted allergic manifestations, it is forbidden to bathe your pet after vaccination.

Precautions before vaccination:

3 days before the planned vaccination and within 3 days after vaccination, the dog should be given antihistamines.
You should not do more than one vaccination per month.
After vaccination, it is necessary to monitor the pet’s condition: measure the temperature, examine the skin and mucous membranes.
At this time, the pet needs rest, optimally gentle nutrition is recommended.
Animals can be vaccinated at the age of 5 months. After the first vaccination, a revaccination is required a month later. At this time, primary immunity is created. The completed vaccination protects your pet from tick-borne encephalitis for up to six months.

Attention!
It is important to know that vaccination cannot guarantee 100% protection; the effectiveness of vaccinations varies around 85-90%.

Prevention memo

Prevention of tick attacks on dogs and the diseases they carry is as follows:

Destruction of the parasite in the natural environment. You cannot eliminate ticks in forests and parks at your discretion, but you have the right to carry out decontamination in your personal garden or summer cottage. The drug Medilis-Ziper ensures the destruction of parasites and protection against the appearance of new ones for 1-1.5 months. 12 ml of concentrate is consumed per hundred square meters. The cost of 0.5 liters of pesticide is 1200 rubles. In addition to the above, the following acaricidal agents are in demand:

Argus Garden;
Dobrokhim FOS;
Dr. Klaus;
Ram.

Preventing your dog from coming into contact with arthropods. Avoid outdoor picnics during arthropod activity periods. Choose tick-free areas for walking.

Safe removal of attached ticks. Wear gloves. Use a Tick-Twister twister or similar professional tools.

Chemical protection products. Apply drops to the withers, flea collars. Carry aerosols with you that repel arthropods. Chemical agents do not guarantee 100% protection, but they reduce the risk of attack by ixodid ticks.

Acaricidal tablets - Bravecto, Sayfli, Frontline-Nexgard - give your pet 4 hours before going outside. The ticks die within half a day and do not have time to transmit the pathogen to the dog.

Before the onset of the arthropod activity season, I recommend visiting the clinic and getting an injection of the drug Piro-Stop or its analogue based on imidocarb. The medicine will not save you from a tick attack, but it will protect you from piroplasm.

Get vaccinated with Eurikan Piro vaccine. Due to the high cost (2,700 rubles, plus veterinarian services), the drug is not widely used in Russia.

Keep your pet in accordance with sanitary standards. Feed premium or higher grade prepared foods. Good nutrition increases the dog's resistance to invasion.

If you have any questions, I will answer in the comments.

One of the serious threats to a dog's health is a tick bite. It should be removed as quickly as possible, but finding the insect in dense fur can be difficult.

How to recognize a parasite attack? If your dog is bitten by a tick, what should you do?

Period of increased vulnerability

After a tick bite, the first signs of the disease can be seen on the 10th day. Many people think that the faster the bloodsucker is detected and removed from the dog, the less dangerous it is. However, it is not.

For a pet to become ill with tick-borne encephalitis or piroplasmosis, a simple tick bite is enough, and it does not matter how long the parasite remains on the animal’s body - one minute or several days.

The severity of the disease depends on the pet's immunity . Some animals die already on the 3rd day after the bite, some fight the disease for a very long time.

However, you should not rely on Mother Nature, because there is one chance in a thousand for independent recovery. Therefore, at the first bite you need to contact a veterinarian.

You can diagnose piroplasmosis yourself, without a veterinarian. All you need to do is place a drop of your pet’s blood on the glass and smear it. If after a few minutes it spreads across the glass and looks like a net, the dog is sick.

You cannot leave the course of the disease to chance. Need a doctor. Before his arrival, you can give your pet an antipyretic drug, medications for vomiting and diarrhea. You cannot start treatment with folk remedies. The veterinarian will give your dog an injection for tick bites.

To prevent a dog from being bitten by a tick, it is important to follow preventive measures..

When taking your dog for a walk, it is advisable to avoid places of increased danger: tall grass; it is also undesirable to walk in a birch grove, shaded areas and places with high humidity.
Low air temperature does not mean that you cannot encounter a tick. At this time, they can become active in sun-warmed areas.
After walks, you need to monitor your pet daily, because the incubation period of the disease does not appear immediately. If there are visible deviations in the animal’s condition, you should immediately consult a doctor.
It is important to use protective equipment correctly. It must be remembered that the collar will be effective if it fits tightly to the animal’s skin. The use of sprays and drops does not provide a 100% guarantee, because the bloodsucker dies only after it is saturated with the blood of the pet with the drug. But he still manages to infect the dog.
The most effective means of protection are tablets. Ticks die immediately after they bite through the pet's skin.

When using medications, it is important to correctly correlate the dosage with the age of the animal.

If a tick bites

Immediately after discovering a blood-sucking insect, it must be removed. It is not advisable to use fatty cream or sunflower oil for these purposes.

Below are several ways to remove a stuck arthropod.

Using cotton thread. The parasite needs to be surrounded with a thread, as close to its proboscis as possible, twisted and made with the hand with the thread moving in a circle counterclockwise. During movements, you need to slightly pull the thread up. You can't jerk sharply.
Special devices. The use of special store devices is carried out strictly in accordance with the instructions.
Tweezers. Grab the parasite closer to the proboscis and try to remove the bloodsucker using circular movements.

After removing the tick, it is recommended to treat the bite site with iodine.

Treatment methods

To clarify what kind of infection has struck the pet, blood tests are submitted to the laboratory. The simplest piroplasmosis causes the destruction of red blood cells in the blood.

Hemoglobin disintegrates and the activity of internal organic systems is disrupted. If a dog is bitten by a tick, the doctor will tell you what the owner needs to do.

Features of puppy therapy

The body of a young dog is extremely sensitive to various types of infections, so the puppy’s treatment must be qualified.

It is difficult for puppies to protect themselves from ticks, and dog illness requires a lot of attention from both doctors and the owner, because when a tick bites a puppy, it can infect a dangerous infection. At the first sign, the puppy should be taken to the veterinarian.

The puppy needs to be given water and sweet tea regularly. The liquid is poured in a teaspoon every 30 minutes. A minimal amount of liquid will not cause vomiting and will be completely absorbed into the walls of the stomach. Medications are administered intravenously to the puppy to eliminate dehydration.

To support the animal's immunity, the animal is given rosehip decoctions to drink throughout the day. The doctor prescribes vitamin injections and plant-based drops.

After recovery, it is recommended to limit the dog’s physical activity. Walks should be short in duration.

The pet needs more rest, since piroplasmosis weakens the functioning of organs. The dog's immune system is in poor condition after illness. It is important to prevent your pet from hypothermia or overheating.

The dog needs an enhanced diet. Rehabilitation usually takes a long time. It is important to normalize the activity of the intestines, stomach, heart, and nervous system.

Contraindications for vaccination

Tick vaccinations are not available for all dogs. Can't vaccinate :

pregnant and lactating bitches;
if you have been vaccinated against encephalitis, under no circumstances should you give your pet any other vaccinations, and you should also not mix vaccines;
after suffering from encephalitis, an injection against ticks with the drug is carried out no earlier than 2 months after recovery; you need to be prepared for the fact that vaccination will not be as effective if the vaccination was given to a healthy dog.

With the arrival of spring, owners take their pets for long walks. Since there is a high probability of infection with encephalitis, after each walk it is recommended to inspect the animal for tick bites.

If an “arthropod guest” has attached itself to the animal’s body, it is recommended to immediately remove it, treat the wound and show the pet to a veterinarian. Infection occurs immediately after a bite, so it is important not to waste time and seek help in time.